Surgical suturing instruments have been developed that can place sutures remotely in laparoscopic or endoscopic procedures. The instruments vary in construction but generally include a suturing tip located at the distal end of an elongated rigid or flexible shaft. The suturing tip has one or more needles, usually two, that can be passed across a gap through a tissue section, in a process sometimes referred to as “taking a bite,” engage a ferrule-tipped suture end and pull the end back through the tissue section so that the suture engages the tissue. The process is repeated at a second location (either in tissue or in a prosthetic material) and the suture is secured to bring the tissue sections or the tissue/prosthetic into apposition.
While surgical suturing instruments of the type just described are normally designed for disposal after use in a single procedure, they can be used multiple times during a procedure by reloading a new ferrule-tipped suture into the instrument and repeating the securing process.
Most commonly, the ferrule-tipped suture ends are disposed in cavities or recesses in the end of instrument which can be difficult to see, especially given the small size of the ferrules. Newer surgical suturing instruments may even have curved needle paths which can make it more difficult to see how a ferrule should be oriented in a ferrule-receiving cavity. Therefore, it would be desirable to have an improved apparatus for loading surgical suture into surgical suturing instruments.